1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a service vehicle, in particular but not exclusively to a fire service vehicle, having a driver's cab and an equipment compartment installed on a chassis frame, the equipment compartment being adapted for reception of implements and/or fire-fighting devices and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Service vehicles known at present comprise an equipment cabin which commonly includes shelves and drawers for receiving the different items of equipment. In this connection, it is also known to install some equipment elements, such as fire extinguisher pumps, on pivotable inserted parts so that they may rapidly be moved from the level of the loading area of the service vehicle to the roadway surface. Different vehicles for different kinds of equipment mostly require a different detailed layout of the equipment cabin for each of the service vehicles and this requires a considerable investment.
Standard commercial vehicles, on which appropriate modular equipment holders are installed have also been used as service vehicles. Such vehicles are being produced and sold at present by the assignee of applicants under the name "The Cobra Universal Vehicle". They have also equiped service of fire service vehicles of conventional structure with crane containers to outfit them for special applications, for example the application of oil or foam, forest fires, earthquakes and the like. The containers prepared in this manner are loaded by crane on the vehicle and carried to the site of operation. In the case of sites of operation situated off the road, these containers may also be carried by aircraft, in particular helicopters. These known service vehicles have proved satisfactory but they could not be adapted to varying emergency requirements.